Blackhawks offense returns in nick of time

Tucked safely back in the comfort of their own time zone, the Blackhawks set out Wednesday night to get their idling offense back to its level before the circus trip.

The Hawks had scored just four goals in the final three games, all defeats, of their six-game road swing.

But the Hawks rebounded by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 at the United Center to snap its winless skid.

The triumph before a crowd of 21,574 improved the Hawks' record to 11-6-6, including 7-1-4 at home. The sellout was the 12th of the season for the Hawks, matching last season's total.

Trailing 2-1 midway through the third period, the Hawks' offense came alive when Martin Havlat tied the game with his seventh goal of the season. After Kris Versteeg gained possession of the puck and got it to Duncan Keith, the defenseman found Havlat between the circles, and the winger beat Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller with 5 minutes 45 seconds left in regulation.

"That's what got us right back into it," Hawks center Jonathan Toews said. "Right then we said, we can win this game. There was no reason why we couldn't. That was a huge turning point in the third.

"We lost our momentum a little bit throughout the middle of the second, and that's when they started throwing their bodies around."

The Hawks got the game-winner just more than four minutes later when Versteeg passed to an open Toews in the slot during a goalmouth scramble and the captain tipped it in for his fifth of the season and a 3-2 lead.

"It was a very timely goal by Havlat and a big goal by Jonathan," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "But the guy who should get a lot of the credit was Versteeg. He made two tremendous plays on both those goals. They were individual highlight-type plays, and it ended up being a huge win for us."

Patrick Sharp scored his team-leading 14th goal late in the first to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. While on the power play, Toews won a battle for the puck along the boards against two Ducks defenders, and Patrick Kane sent a pass to an open Sharp between the circles that the forward fired past Hiller.

The Ducks capitalized on a power play of their own to tie it midway through the second on a goal by Teemu Selanne. Chris Pronger scored in the opening minute of the third to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead.

The Hawks then struck with the Havlat and Toews goals before Dave Bolland finished the scoring with an empty-netter in the final seconds.

"The three previous games were tough," Versteeg said of losses in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. "Everyone knew we needed to come out huge in our home barn."

One-timers: The Hawks honored former forward Steve Larmer as part of their "Heritage Nights" before the game. Larmer had 406 goals and 517 assists in 11 seasons with the Hawks. He appeared in 884 consecutive games from 1982-1993, the third-longest streak in NHL history. … A moment of silence was observed to honor former Hawk Hubert "Pit" Martin, who died Sunday in a snowmobile accident in Quebec. … Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulinskated for the second consecutive day as he recovers from an injury suffered Nov. 26 in San Jose. Quenneville said Khabibulin was "questionable" to return to action this weekend, either Saturday against the Red Wings in Detroit or at home Sunday night against Phoenix. … The second annual Blackhawks Convention will be at the Hilton Chicago from July 17-19. Reservations can be made beginning Dec. 11 by calling 800-445-8667.